Revell 1/24 Bass Pro Shops Sprint Car
By Dave Lawniczak
Steve Kinser
Steve Kinser arrived on the Sprint Car scene in the 70's and he's amassed a record that will be hard to surpass, with 20 Championships and over 550 wins. He also made a brief foray into NASCAR in 1995 and drove for NHRA champion Kenny Bernstein. Steve had some problems in NASCAR so he returned to Sprint Car racing and remains there today. He now drives the Number 11 Bass Pro Shops Sprint Car for Tony Stewart Motorsports and is still a force to be reckoned with.
The Kit
This kit is a modified re-issue of a sprint car kit from the 1980's. Monogram issued the kit first, then Revell/Monogram and finally Revell. I also obtained two earlier issues of the model just for comparison, with copyright dates of 1998 and 1993 respectively. When you open the box, you immediately notice that there are no longer any loose or unprotected parts in the box: everything is bagged in separate bags. I am glad that the model companies have finally started doing this, because nothing is worse than opening an older model to find the tires burned through the windshield or some such other damage.
The kit contains six separate sprues, three non-plated and three with a satin finish, which simulates a polished metal look much better than your traditional shiny kit chrome. I noticed after opening the bags that the kit does not contain much flash, but the seam cleanup needed before paint and assembly will take quite a bit of time, especially on parts such as the frame.
You will need to mask the body for two different colors, white and fluorescent red, in order to match the box photos. There are decals that cover the seam between the two colors, but make sure that the masking is in the correct location so the decals cover it. You also need to make sure your preferred white paint is a close match to the white decals so they don't stand out too badly. The kit also includes a driver figure with decals for the racing harness. You should use decal solvent to help snuggle the decals down smoothly onto the figure.
Accuracy
The box top depicts the car in 2011 livery. But the kit doesn't include the correct wheels. The picture shows the newer 5 spoke wheels from 2011, but the kit still contains the earlier 6 spoke wheels. The Goodyear and Eagle logos are missing from the kit tires. The other notable difference between the 1:1 car and the kit is the decal sheet. There are several sponsor decals missing, perhaps due to licensing issues. The Goodyear and Hoosier decals were absent.
The Chevrolet and Chevrolet Bowtie symbols, Coca-Cola and US Army decals are also missing.
It shouldn't that difficult to come up with any or all of these items by some selective kit bashing with earlier versions of this kit and some of the older NASCAR kits, or aftermarket contingency decal sheets, but it does make it a bit more of a pain to build an accurate model and it is impossible for total accuracy right out of the box.
Conclusion
Overall I think that this kit will build up into a pretty nice shelf model, but for a showpiece it will require a bit more effort to make it really stand out. Not impossible by any means, just be prepared to spend some extra time on it. I would like to thank Revell for providing the review sample.
